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Latest York County updates: Some roads remain closed, power back up in many areas

Updated:
10/31/2012 05:22:23 AM EDT

5:14 a.m., Transportation routes to reopen
PENN-DOT listed at least 34 roadways still closed in York County as of this morning, including sections of Mount Zion Road, Carlisle Road, Indian Rock Dam Road, East Berlin Road, Conewago Creek Road, Sherman Street and Franlin Street. Two closures were listed in Adams County: Hanover Road and Fish and Game Road. For a full listing of closures, visit ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/transfer/roadclosures/Roadway_closures.pdf.

Amtrak will restore service to points south of Newark, N.J. beginning today. Keystone Service trains will be in operation between Harrisburg and Philadelphia, but Northeast Regional service, as well as Acela Express service in the northeast corridor, remains suspended due to flooding in New York area tunnels. A date is not yet set for restoration of service, according to the Amtrak website.

Airlines, including Delta, United and US Airways were scheduled to be in operation today at Harrisburg International Airport, according to the airports website. The airport is still advising that customers check the status of their flight online at www.flyhia.com before departing for the airport.

Met-ed reported just over 2,200, or one percent, of customers in York County were still without power as of this morning.

6:20 p.m., Power outages Met-Ed is reporting 4,823 without power in York County.

Route 116 just east of Spring Grove borough is closed until 11 p.m. Wednesday so crews can replace 11 poles damaged as a result of Hurricane Sandy, said Kathy Seilhamer, external affairs manager with Met-Ed.

"We have coordinated the road closure with PennDOT. Both Met-Ed and Verizon will be working together on the restoration activities," she said.

5:18 p.m.The Route 74 bridge on the border of Dover and West Manchester townships will remain closed overnight Tuesday because the water of the Little Conewago Creek remains high, said Mike Crochunis, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

The water remains about 3-inches from the deck, he said. Drivers are encouraged to use Church and Canal roads as detours.

PennDOT plans to inspect the bridge Wednesday, Crochunis said.

Route 116 in Jackson Township also remains closed, according to PennDOT. It is not clear when the road will reopen.

About 36 roads remain closed in York County, according to PennDOT. Read more here.

2:30 p.m., Express lane reopens PennDOT has reopened the express lane on the westbound Rt. 30 bridge over the Susquehanna.

1 p.m., Severe wind damage reported A mobile home was pushed from its foundation on Monday in Dover Township. The home, and other nearby structures in the Tall Oaks Mobile Home Park on Dupont Avenue, sustained severe wind damage, said Laurel Oswalt, the township's manager. A township inspector will assess the damage on Wednesday, Oswalt said. The township is not yet clear whether the high winds indicate a tornado caused the damage. If necessary, the National Weather Service would make the determination.

12:45 p.m., Senior center open Windy Hill senior center in Spring Grove reports that it is open and staffed today. "If you are without power and need a place to warm up and get a hot cup of coffee, you are more than welcome to stop in," a center news release states. It is located at 50 North East St., Suite 2.

12:05 p.m., Power outages Met-Ed is reporting 9,561 without power in York County.

Noon, Absentee ballot deadlines The deadline for county election offices to receive applications for absentee ballots will be extended on a county-by-county basis, depending on whether the county courthouse was closed for business any day this week because of Hurricane Sandy, according to a Department of State news release.

The deadline for voters to have absentee ballot applications to county election offices was set to be today statewide, but that will be extended one day for each day a voter's county courthouse is closed this week. But the release states that all applications must be received by Friday.

Voters who become physically disabled or ill can file for an emergency absentee ballot with the court of common pleas in their county, according to the release. So can voters who learn they must be absent from their municipality of residence because of business, duties or occupation.

For information on filing an absentee ballot, visit www.votespa.com.

12:23 Water use restrictions have been lifted for people who get water from York City's treatment plant.

That covers users in Manchester, West Manchester, Spring Garden and York townships, as well as users in York, North York and West York.

11 a.m., Weather update The morning's weather of breezy, light rain should continue into the afternoon, said Craig Evanego, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The high temperature will stay in the 40s.

Wind gusts reaching 50 mph are still possible today.

Wednesday will bring periods of light rain that might diminish to scattered showers throughout the day, with higher temperatures in the 50s, Evanego said. Winds speeds should lessen to 10 or 15 mph.

10:50 a.m., More than 100 head to Red Cross shelters
The American Red Cross housed 104 York County residents Monday night after they were forced from their homes by Hurricane Sandy.

Kathy Smyser, regional communications manager, said the Red Cross has all four shelters still open. She said the Red Cross will determine today how long the shelters will stay open and how best to use its resources at this point.

She said 50 people were sheltered at Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Loganville, 33 at the York County Vocational-Technical School, 15 in Dillsburg and six in East Berlin.

10:43 a.m. National Weather Service has upgraded the flood forecast from minor to moderate for Yellow Breeches Creek near Camp Hill. At 10 a.m. Tuesday, the creek was at 8.8 feet; flood stage is 7 feet. It is expected to crest at 9.2 feet later tonight, the weather service says.

10:02 a.m.

PennDOT said it has lifted speed restrictions that were imposed yesterday on interstates and state routes in the area.

9:15 a.m.

Route 74 in West Manchester Township is closed at Church Street, where the Conewago Creek crosses the road.

8:14 a.m.

As of this morning, there were about 7,500 Met-Ed customers without power in York County, according to the company's website.

The highest concentration of customers without power was in Newberry Township, with just under 1,000.

For more information, go to Met-Ed's interactive website at http://outages.firstenergycorp.com/pa.html.

7:05 a.m.

Emergency crews responded to several calls for water rescues overnight, York County 911 reported.

The latest was this morning, shortly after 6:30 a.m., when the driver of a mid-sized car went around barricades and wound up stranded in high water on Emig Road in East Manchester Township, near John Rudy County Park, 911 reported.

No injuries were reported.

Despite repeated warnings, motorists still drive around barricades into deep water. Doing so carries a fine of as much as $500, something that emergency workers hope will deter motorists from ignoring barricades.

As one 911 dispatcher said, "You can't fix stupidity overnight."

6:47 a.m.

Good news out of Glen Rock: The south branch of the Codorus stayed within its banks.

The borough had asked a few residents on Baltimore, Hanover and Water streets to evacuate and, according to emergeny management coordinator Jon Abbott, most did, leaving to stay with friends or relatives.

It turned out to be precautionary.

"Nothing really bad happened," Abbott said.

***

It was quiet overnight in Spring Grove, reported EMT Mike Bunz.

"We didn't turn a wheel all night long," he said.

Which was pretty good luck because, he said, "We'd have a hard time getting anywhere."

The biggest problem was north of town, in Jackson Township where downed utility poles and power lines prompted the closure of Route 166 between Sprenkle Road and Little Creek.

6:30 a.m. update

According to York County 911, a person is out of a car that got caught on the flooded area of Locust Street and Gut Road in East Manchester Township and is now in EMS care. The person drove into water that was too high and had to be rescued, according to York County 911.

The roads in that area of East Manchester Township are still flooded.

6 a.m.

Met-Ed says just more than 14,000 are without power right now. The majority of the outages are in Jackson, Manchester, Conewago, Newberry, Chanceford, Fawn, Hopewell and York townships.

There are still some roads closed in the county. Many fire companies in southern York County said they didn't respond to many calls last night, but thought that as people woke up today, they might get more reports of damage.